As part of its continuing effort to broaden the array of services and professional tools available to its members, the Association of Cable Communicators (ACC) announced this week the launch of a dramatically enhanced online home at www.CableCommunicators.org. The new Web site incorporates relevant and continually refreshed information, e-learning and Web 2.0 services like live online chats, Webinars and podcasts, and will serve as a focal point for cable communicators across the country.

ACC's new Web site features an updated look as well as improved navigation, new content, extensive use of photos and video from ACC events and valuable information for cable communicators, with even more reserved for ACC members in an exclusive "Members Only" section. The site incorporates Web 2.0 applications like RSS feeds from leading cable trade and other news publications in the Headlines in Cable section, which will help keep visitors apprised of what's happening in the cable industry and communications field. In addition, ACC is incorporating other advanced features and e-learning opportunities, such as online chats and webinars, into its Web site while continuing to offer the latest information on ACC events and services such as the Beacon Awards, FORUM, and
CPR Facts,
the association's bi-weekly e-newsletter.

ACC's new "Career Connections" initiative will tap into the extensive knowledge of the association's most experienced members to meet the mentoring and professional development needs of its more junior members. The ongoing series will include online, print, video and podcast elements. The new ACC Web site features a Career Connectionssection that will direct members to written, video and podcast interviews with leading cable communications practitioners discussing how their careers have evolved and the skills needed to succeed in the business today. Excerpts of these interviews will also run in
CPR Facts. The first participants in this series include: Pete Abel, vice president, corporate communications, Suddenlink Communications; Ellen Kroner, senior vice president, corporate communications and marketing, Rainbow Media Holdings, LLC; Mark Harrad, senior vice president, corporate communications, Time Warner Cable; Mary Jo Moehle, vice president of Investor Relations and Communications, Charter Communications, Inc.; and Michelle Rice, senior vice president, distribution & strategy, TV One.

Redfish Software helped in the construction of ACC's new Web site. The new site is hosted by DreamHost, a carbon neutral, "green" hosting company. If you have any questions or comments about the site and the new services offered, please contact ACC at 800-210-3396 or services@cablecommunicators.org.
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Kick Off the Fall Season in Hollywood on October 3rd with ACC!

Looking for a way to connect with more of your peers? Join ACC in Hollywood for a networking reception at the Fox Studios lot! On Wednesday, October 3, ACC will hold a reception for members and their colleagues from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Fox Studios commissary in Los Angeles, California. Industry executives such as Randy Freer, president, Fox Regional Cable Sports Network, and other special guests will attend the event. Complimentary appetizers and cocktails will be available
throughout the evening, and guests will be eligible to win door prizes. If you would like to RSVP for the reception, please contact ACC at services@cablecommunicators.orgor call 800-210-3396.
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Oxygen and Time Warner Cable Host Mentors Walk in Los Angeles

On Friday, October 5th, Oxygen Media will team up with Time Warner Cable and Deloitte & Touche USA LLP to host Los Angeles' first Oxygen Mentors Walk. LA's most successful women will join Oxygen CEO Geraldine Laybourne, Cathy Benko, managing principal of talent and leader of Deloitte's Women's Initiative and Debi Picciolo, president of the LA North Division of Time Warner Cable to walk and mentor local young women at Santa Monica beach.

Oxygen has recruited mentee participants through local colleges, graduate schools and non-profit women's businesses and mentoring organizations. Young women interested in participating as mentees can sign up online at www.oxygen.com/mentorswalk. After the walk, the network will host a breakfast for participants at Casa Del Mar.

Mentors Walk: Bringing Along the Next Generation was launched in New York City in 2005 and expanded to become a national initiative in March 2007. Since March, Oxygen has hosted two other Mentors Walks in Chicago and in Washington, D.C. For more information about the Los Angeles Mentoring Walk, contact Rachelle Savoia at 212-651-5093 or rsavoia@oxygen.com.
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2008 Beacon Awards® Call for Entries Now Available Online

The 2008 Beacon Awards Call for Entries has been posted on ACC's Web site and will be mailed to members within the next few weeks. The 2008 Beacon Awards committee, led by co-chairs Amy Cohn, executive director, public affairs, Cox Communications and Ellen Kroner, senior vice president, corporate communications and marketing, Rainbow Media Holdings, LLC, have reviewed last year's 21 categories and added two new categories to ensure that all campaigns cable communicators oversee have a home in the awards process.

The two new categories added are programming publicity and cause marketing. Programming publicity was created to cover the types of programs network publicists implement. The idea for a cause marketing category came from the desire to recognize the many strategic partnerships that cable companies and networks enter with nonprofits to help achieve the cable company's business goals while also meeting the needs of the nonprofit partner. For more information on all 23 categories, please
view the Call for Entries.

Eligible entrants for the Beacon Awards are cable operators, regional and national cable networks, state and regional associations, marketing co-ops, and vendors (hardware and software providers). You must be an Association of Cable Communicators member in order to submit an entry. Beacon Awards entries will go through preliminary judging on January 16 and 17, 2008, in Washington, D.C. A panel of senior cable communications and public affairs professionals will judge the second round on January 31, 2008, and select the winning entries. If you would like to volunteer to serve as a judge, please click here.

The Early Bird deadline for the 2008 Beacon Awards is November 2, 2007, allowing members to save $50 off the entry fee. The Regular Deadline is November 16, 2007. The awards will be presented during a gala ceremony during FORUM 2008, ACC's annual three-day conference. For more information on the Beacon Awards, please visit the Beacon Awards page of the Web site at http://www.cablecommunicators.org/awards_beacon.php.
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MTV Launches New Social Activism Network

MTV recently announced the launch of a new Internet social network designed to be a resource for social and political issues. Think.MTV.com lets users connect with other like-minded people on issues from the environment to sexual health and discrimination and hopes to encourage youth activism on these and a number of other topics.

Think.MTV.com lets users create pages (similar to social networks Facebook and MySpace) and upload photos and videos, some of which may be aired on MTV's online or cable network. The test launch of the site was Thursday, September 20, and came just weeks after MTV struck a deal with News Corp's MySpace social network to host a series of discussions between U.S. presidential candidates and Internet viewers that will be streamed online. The presidential discussions will also air on Think.MTV.com.

MTV has a long history in stoking youth interest in political and social issues and aims to close the gap between the high interest in activism among young people and the comparatively lower levels of action. An MTV poll last year showed that 80 percent of respondents said doing something to help the community was the right thing to do, but only 19 percent were "very involved" in such efforts.

MTV said organizations and celebrities that will use the site include the United Nations, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, actor Leonardo DiCaprio and musician Bono. Finally, Think.MTV and the Knight Foundation will award up to $500,000 to young creators who come up with an idea to use digitally delivered news to improve communities.

The site is backed by funding from AOL founder Steve Case's Case Foundation, Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates's Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Goldhirsh Foundation and MCJ Foundation. For more information about Think.MTV, please visit Think.MTV.com.
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Get Connected to ACC at the New York City ESPN Zone on October 16th!

Get connected to ACC and your area colleagues by attending the Association of Cable Communicators' October New York City networking event! ACC will host a networking reception on Tuesday, October 16 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the ESPN Zone on 1472 Broadway in Times Square. Guests will receive a complimentary game card and will be eligible to win door prizes throughout the evening. Complimentary beer, wine, cocktails and appetizers will also be served.

C-SPAN and The Cable Center recently announced the curriculum for "Road to the White House," The Cable Center's fall distance learning class. A partnership of The Cable Center and C-SPAN, the distance learning course is the only college-level class of its kind in the country. The course uses cable technology to deliver the class from C-SPAN's studios in Washington, D.C., to The Cable Center's Distance Learning Studio in Denver.

The "Road to the White House" course offers a unique insight into the 2008 presidential election and an opportunity for students to dialogue with special guests at the forefront of the political process. From debates and conventions to political ads and candidate speeches, the course examines the key moments in past presidential campaigns and focuses on the presidential selection process. The class takes an in-depth look at what candidates have to do in order to capture the party nomination
and the role that political parties play in linking voters to the only nationally elected office in the American system of government.

The Cable Center's Distance Learning Course is taught by Steve Scully, C-SPAN senior executive producer and political editor. Noted guests for the fall include Bob Schieffer, moderator of CBS' Face the Nation; John Harris, editor-in-chief of POLITICO and www.politico.com and co-author of
The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008;
and Howard Dean, chairman, Democratic National Committee. The class will be broadcast on a tape-delayed basis on the C-SPAN networks in order to provide C-SPAN viewers with access to the curriculum and the extraordinary guests. The class is also available online at www.c-span.org.

The class is the 17th in a series and is funded by a major grant from The Barr Foundation and Amos B. Hostetter. For more information about "Road to the White House," contact Joanne Dant at 303-346-5527 or joanne@octoberstrategies.com.
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WWE Sponsors Journey for 9/11

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) signed on as a sponsor for former Giants defensive end George Martin's "Journey for 9/11." On Saturday, September 16, Martin began walking from New York City to San Francisco to raise awareness and money for rescue workers experiencing health issues related to their heroic work at ground zero in the aftermath of September 11, 2001.

WWE will sponsor Martin's walk financially and will allow Martin access to WWE's extensive fan base via personalized messages and updates featured on WWE.com, which currently receives more than 20 million unique visitors each month. WWE has also filmed a special message from Martin asking WWE fans for their support and participation during his walk. For more information on the journey, visit www.ajourneyfor911.info.
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Join the ACC Professional Development Committee

The Association of Cable Communicators is looking for volunteers (programmer members are encouraged to join) to serve on the Provide Professional Development Resources and Recognition Committee. The focus of this committee is to provide superior professional development opportunities for all members, to recognize and celebrate excellence in communications and public affairs at all levels and to serve all cable communications professionals. Chaired by Bill Jasso of Time Warner Cable,
Northeast Ohio, the committee is currently working on the 2008 ACC Communications Institute, finalizing the ACC Communications Handbook and developing topics for future
ACCbriefs. If you are interested in serving ACC as a member of this committee, please contact Steve Jones at sjones@cablecommunicators.orgor 202-222-2373.
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Congratulations, Lynn Yaeger!

Congratulations to ACC member Lynn Yaeger, executive vice president, corporate affairs, Time Warner Cable for being named as the Women In Cable Telecommunications (WICT) Foundation 2007 Woman of the Year! Yaeger was a founding member of ACC and served three terms on the Board of Directors. She also received the President's Award in 1997. Yaeger and other recipients of WICT's 2007 Accolades will be honored at WICT's annual gala on November 15th in Washington, D.C. For more
information about WICT's 2007 Accolades Honorees, please contact Melissa Northern at 703-234-9812 or mnorthern@wict.org.
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Thank You, Corporate Members!

Join and support ACC by becoming a corporate member. Join now and receive benefits immediately from your join date until December 2008. For more information on how your organization can join ACC as a corporate member, please contact Steve Jones at sjones@cablecommunicators.orgor 202-222-2373. For membership details, go to http://www.cablecommunicators.org/cmember.php.